HPV Part 3: Public Health Issues

How common is Cervical Cancer?

• Approximately 10,000 US women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year
• About 4,000 US women will die from it.
• Many more women will be diagnosed with a precancerous cervical changes and require treatment to prevent it from progressing to cancer.
• In the US, Latina women and women of color are more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer or die, as they have less access to Pap smears and thus are not screened early enough to prevent progression.
• Worldwide, over 250K women will die each year from cervical cancer, due to lack of care.

How are Precancerous lesions of the Cervix treated?

• Simple office procedures to more complex surgical ones done in a hospital
• Highly effective
• Cryosurgery uses cold to freeze the cervix.
• LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure) uses a wire that has been heated to removal the lesion.
• Cone Biopsy removes a portion of the cervix. Done in a hospital under general anesthesia